Naruto Namikaze
by SpectreShepard
Summary: In canon, it was Hiruzen that had found Naruto lying in his parent's cold arms. What would have happened if Orochimaru had been the one to find him instead. This is the story of Naruto Namikaze, whom was experimented on by Orochimaru in an attempt at forming his final body, but was saved by Jiraiya before his body could be taken. Mokuton, Sharingan, and Rinnegan Bloodlines.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Fuinjutsu: Reaper Death Seal!" Minato Namikaze shouted as he finished sealing away part of the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra within himself.

The normally boyish and handsome features of the fourth hokage were replaced by a gaunt and white appearance, the signs of chakra exhaustion. His forehead was covered with a coating of sweat and his eyes were slowly losing their exuberant and life-filled light.

"Now that's done, I need to hurry and seal the rest within Naruto." Minato spoke those words with such regret and shame that he nearly stopped himself, but he remembered that the village would need the fox's power if they were going to survive what he thought was coming their way.

"Damn you Madara Uchiha, you have stolen away my son and my wife from me, and you have stolen us away from him, and now you force me to put this damn fox inside my own son so that he might be able to save Konaha in the future." Minato said out loud with a fierce growl that made Naruto wake up and start to cry.

Ashamed that he had scared his son, Minato rubbed his head and bent down and gave Naruto a kiss on the forehead. He looked over to the prone body that was holding his softly crying son. His beloved wife, whom had just finally passed away from the exertion the unsealing of the Kyubi had placed upon her chakra coils. She had a smile on her face as her eyes had settled upon her baby before closing for the last time.

"I am sorry my son, I wish we had had more time. I truly do I love you Naruto Namikaze." Minato said as he stood up and began the myriad hand seals for the sealing jutsu he was about to perform. Minato finished the hand signs and put his hand on the design he had painted onto Naruto's belly.

"Fuinjutsu: Eight Trigrams Seal." All of a sudden there was a flash of golden light emanating from Naruto's body and then the Nine-Tailed fox was gone and Minato fell to the ground, totally drained of chakra and starting to finally succumb to the effects of the Reaper Death Seal.

As he lay their dying, Minato made one final seal upon Naruto and sealed a portion of his own chakra within Naruto so that he could reseal the Nine-Tails, should he ever need to. Before Minato took his final breath, he lay down next to Naruto and snuggled his nose to Naruto's nose. A smile touched the lips of Minato Namikaze right before the light left his eyes and he passed into the world of the dead.

Naruto began crying loudly the moment his father closed his eyes for the last time. Suddenly, the boy grew silent as soft footsteps reached his ears and a person came into his view. The person stood there looking down at Minato and Kushina lying next to each other and their newborn baby cuddled in between the two of them.

"Well, looks like I won't be able to gain any of Minato's DNA. He just had to go and offer his soul to the Reaper. Oh well, there is another experiment that I wanted to try and I do believe an Uzumaki should be able to withstand the procedure." The man whom was standing in front of the two fallen ninja and their newborn baby said as he licked his lips with his elongated tongue and his amber eyes glowed with an unnatural light.

Konohagakure – Hokage Tower – The Next Day

Hiruzen Sarutobi groaned and rubbed his aching head as he stood behind his large desk that had been the desk for all four of the Hokages. He had been selected earlier this morning to resume his duties as the Sandaime Hokage.

As if that wasn't enough to place upon the weary shoulders of the old man, he was remembering the report that had been sent to him earlier today. One of his gate guard ninja had reported that they had been incapacitated during the Kyubi attack by none other than their very own Orochimaru.

The fact that his old student had been in Konoha during the attack had been enough to make him worry about what he had been up to, but he had to worry about the fate of the young Namikaze boy as well. He had been one of the few people in Konoha to know of the boy's birth, and he had assumed that something had gone wrong during childbirth and that the Kyubi had somehow been released from his seal.

He had been the first Konoha ninja to arrive at the clearing where the Kyubi had been resealed and the first thing he noticed was Minato's and Kushina's bodies. The next thing he noticed was the Naruto Namikaze's absence.

He had figured that when Minato had appeared and had taken the Kyubi away from the village, that he had gone somewhere that he could reseal the tailed beast. It was only a logical assumption that Minato would use his own son to seal the Kyubi instead of making another bear the heavy burden of becoming a jinchuriki.

Not long afterwards he was joined by several of his ANBU guard. He sent them with orders to summon his best tracking ninja, mainly Inuzukas, and to have them report here with great haste. Several squads of tracking ninja had appeared within ten minutes and he had them spread out and started searching for Naruto. They had been unable to find any trail and the Inuzuka's could only find his scent upon his parent's bodies.

"Jiraiya, I hope my message finds you and you can somehow find your godson, for I truly believe that he is in great danger, danger at the hands of my former student and your former teammate." Hiruzen whispered to himself as he looked out at the Hokage Monument and couldn't help but feel sadness as he rested his eyes upon the face of his successor.

Somewhere Near the Border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields – Two Years Later

Orochimaru stood gazing hungrily at a two year old boy whom was looking right back at him with an odd light in his eyes. It was reaching the period of time where he needed to switch bodies and he truly wished that the boy was old enough for him to take his body over.

"Oh well, the best things in life come with patience, or something like that." Orochimaru mused to himself as he turned away from the boy and walked away.

He walked down one of the myriad halls in his hideout, his destination being the room where his new body was being prepped for him. On the way there he thought back to what he had accomplished over the last two years. He had finally accomplished the impossible; he had spliced a living being's DNA with that of two other DNA sources.

It had taken him two years to do it; he had wanted to test his procedure on a few 'expendable' bodies before attempting it on one of the last living Uzumakis. For a few months, he had refined his procedure and then he had the young Namikaze boy undergo the first procedure.

It had been touch and go for a while, but the boy had survived having his DNA spliced with the DNA of Hashirama Senju. A few months later, he started the second and he had been met with even greater results than the first time. The boy's resilience and sheer life force had skyrocketed with the addition of Senju DNA to his Uzumaki DNA.

Unlike last time when it had been touch and go and Orochimaru had feared that he would fail and the boy would die, this time the boy recovered within days from the procedure and Orochimaru had been practically salivating at the mouth at the prospect of using the boy's body. With this boy's body, he might be able to finally stop switching every three years and he wanted that so bad.

Finally, Orochimaru walked into the room where his next body was prepared and laid out on a medical table for him. Suddenly he shed his skin and anybody whom would have cast their eyes upon him would have been treated to his true form. He was a pure white snake that looked to be made up of thousands of smaller white snakes.

Orochimaru wrapped his snake body around the new body that he was going to be using for the next three years and he swallowed it whole and began the process of taking it over. It was a process that would take nearly a full day and he would need full and complete concentration on the task at hand for it to be completed or else the new body would rot away.

If only he knew what was going on in the room that he left the Namikaze boy in at the moment, he would drop what he was doing in a heartbeat and race towards it. He wouldn't mind losing this particular body if it meant stopping what was about to happen.

For at that exact moment, Naruto had been grabbed by a large man with unruly white hair. The man wore a horned hitai-ate on his head with the kanji for oil on it. He also wore a green long sleeved kimono with matching pants. Underneath this he wore mesh armor that peeked out at his chest, legs, and his forearms. Over the green kimono shirt he wore a red haori.

"I have him, hurry and tell Fukusaku to reverse summon me." Jiraiya said to a small toad about the size of his thumb that subsequently disappeared in a plume of smoke.

Jiraiya quickly flashed through a set of hand seals and suddenly black writing appeared around his body and Naruto's body, tightly binding the two together. If he was caught before Fukusaku was able to reverse summon him, he could find himself in quite the little pickle, but it seemed that wasn't to happen as seconds later the two of them disappeared in another plume of smoke, this one being considerably larger than the last.

* * *

Well, here is the prologue to my new story. It had been sitting inside my head for a while now and I just couldn't get it out. Thanks for reading it and please tell me what you think in a review.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Konohagakure – Namikaze Estate – One Year After Naruto Was Rescued by Jiraiya

It was a bright and sunny day as a woman and child walked down a winding path that was set back in one of the many forested parts of Konohagakure. Many of the estates were like this, and the Namikaze estate was no different. There were trees of all types on both sides of the cobblestone path, their large branches hanging over the path like arches.

The woman whom was walking along the path wore a dark blue blouse with a matching skirt that ended at her knees. The skirt had slits at each side revealing mesh body armor underneath. The woman had raven hair and black eyes. The woman's name was Mikoto Uchiha.

The boy whom was holding her hand looked to be around two or three years old and he wore a dark blue shirt with a red and white fan symbol on the back of it. He also wore a matching pair of shorts. The boy's hair was raven like his mother's, and his eyes were the same black color. The boy's name was Sasuke Uchiha.

Finally, after walking along the path for nearly twenty minutes, the woman and boy had arrived at a large and ornate wrought iron gate. The gate was open and the woman just smiled as she led herself and her son through it.

She had told Naruto the other day that she would be coming to his birthday and it appeared that he had made sure to leave the gate open for them and any other guests that were sure to appear. She knew for certain that Hiruzen and Jiraiya would show up, and she had a feeling that a few others would too.

She still remembered the first time that she had come by and the gate had been closed. Of course, she had known the Namikaze and Uzumaki's fame for Fuinjutsu and Barrier Jutsu, but she had completely overlooked it as she attempted to open the gate, only for it to remain locked.

She had tried everything she could to get the damn thing open, everything she tried failing of course. She had just been about to give up when she heard a chuckle from behind her. She had turned around to find Hiruzen Sarutobi behind her holding little Naruto's hand. The two of them had went out on a walk, and they had forgotten that Mikoto was coming over to fix Naruto dinner that day.

Hiruzen had explained to her that Minato and Kushina had inscribed the gate with sealing and barrier matrixes that would only permit one of either Namikaze or Uzumaki blood to open it from the outside. She watched as Naruto walked forward and placed his hand upon the gate and the gate gave off a slight blue glow before opening.

It took another couple of minutes for them to reach the actual house and they walked in to find Naruto in the process of clumsily throwing blunted kunai at a target he had set up in the living room. Naruto had finally noticed the duo and stood up and ran over to them.

"Mikoto, Sasuke, you made it!" Naruto said as he beamed up at Mikoto as she bent down to give the blond boy a hug.

"We wouldn't miss your birthday for the world!" Mikoto said as she smiled at the boy whom she had taken it upon herself to make sure his childhood was good, it was the least she could do for her deceased best friend, Kushina.

"Hey, come see what Jiraiya made me." Naruto said as he finally detached himself from Mikoto's arms and grabbed one of her's and Sasuke's hands in each of his own.

He led them out to the backyard and took them down another one of his many winding pathways that crisscrossed across his family estate. After a few minutes, they found themselves staring up at an impressive tree house.

Naruto let go of Mikoto's hand and pulled Sasuke along as he placed his hand upon the trunk of the tree. Suddenly the tree glowed slightly blue under his hand and a ladder descended from the tree house.

Mikoto had to admit to herself that the old pervy sage had outdone himself for Naruto's birthday present. A tree house that had seals placed within it, for there was sure to be more inside the house itself, would have taken a lot of time chakra to make.

Naruto climbed up the tree house and Sasuke quickly joined him after getting his mother's approval. Mikoto watched as the two of them played around in the tree house and wrestled on the floor of it at different times throughout the time they were up there.

After about thirty minutes of watching them, she again heard a hearty chuckle behind her just like that day so many months ago and turned to see Hiruzen smiling fondly up at the two boys who were currently trying to get the other to tap in submission.

"Hokage, it is good to see you." Mikoto said with a small bow to Hiruzen whom smiled and nodded his head at her and returned to watching the two boys play around.

"Do you know who else is going to show up?" Mikoto asked after a few moments of watching the boys roll around on the floor of the tree house.

"I know for sure that Jiraiya is going to come, and I believe that Kakashi had mentioned something about showing up." Hiruzen said with a small smile on his face as he saw Sasuke reverse Naruto's headlock he had on him, only for it to be reversed again by Naruto.

"That's good, I'm sure that he'll enjoy the company!" Mikoto said with a smile on her face as she turned back to watch the two boys play.

Konohagakure – Hokage Monument – Five Years Later

The sun was rising over the Hokage Monument and if anybody were to look over at it at this exact moment, the glare would be too strong and they wouldn't notice anything different than about it than how it was on any normal day.

The only thing was that it wasn't just any day. It was Naruto's 8th birthday and he and Sasuke had decided to celebrate it in a fashion that would make certain it would never be forgotten. They wore painting the faces on the Hokage Monument.

The two boys were best friends and they had been practically inseparable ever since they had been introduced to each other a little over three years ago. Because of this, Sasuke had been infected by Naruto's pranking side and the two boys had pulled off some pranks that had made Anko smile with pride at this generation of prankers.

However, this trumped any other prank the duo had ever attempted and they were certain that if they got caught that they were going to be in a lot of hell for this. That was another thing the two were good at, avoiding getting caught. The way those two were able to hide from ANBU squads would make you think that ANBU should be back in the academy.

The two boys had just placed the finishing touches on the faces when the first of the Konohagakure citizens got their first glimpse of the vandalized hokage monument. Within minutes they had started running because a chunin squad had appeared on the scene to investigate. Thus began the greatest chase ever conducted within Konohagakure's walls.

The two boys were running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop as they tried to get away from the ever increasing group of shinobi on their tails. Normally, the two boys would have hidden before a chase could even begin, but they had been discovered earlier than they had anticipated, and because of that they weren't given a chance to hide.

They had run and hopped on just about every building by noon and they had made their way back to the monument, where they were boxed in. The two boys backed up and stood at the edge of the monument as ANBU, chunin, and jonin alike cracked their knuckles and smiled at the thought of exacting revenge for leading them on such a long and embarrassing chase throughout the entire village.

All of a sudden the rocks underneath Sasuke's feet started to give way and he slipped backwards and started a slow tumble down the side of the monument. Naruto saw it all in slow motion. He heard the crunch of rock, saw Sasuke's eyes widen as his foot slipped, and even saw the look of shock flit across the Uchiha's face as he started to tumble backwards.

Later that day, several ANBU and jonin would be giving reports on an event that had every single ninja on the monument frozen in shock. Naruto had acted on instinct as he saw his friend start to fall, a fall that would have surely been his death.

Naruto felt a warmth deep inside himself and he felt it expand until he felt it in his hands as well. Suddenly he shot his arms forward and his forearms and hands transformed into thick branches and shot forward to wrap around Sasuke's waist.

Suddenly, one of the ANBU, wearing a cat mask, shook himself out of the stupor they were all in and sprinted forward while applying chakra to his feet and jogging down to where Sasuke was at. He grabbed Sasuke and pulled him out of the branches embrace and walked back up with the boy in his arms.

The cat masked ANBU walked over to another ANBU member whom was finally shaking himself out of his own stupor and handed Sasuke over to him and directed him to take him to the Uchiha compound and to go to ANBU headquarters and report afterwards.

The cat masked ANBU turned back around and walked towards a shocked and shaking Naruto. Naruto knew exactly what it was that he had done. Living in Konohagakure, he knew about the Shodaime Hokage's abilities, and he was freaking out that he had somehow been able to utilize it.

"Come, we must report to the Hokage." The cat masked ANBU said as he knelt down and looked Naruto in the eye.

Finally shaking himself out of his stupor as well, the two set out at a fast pace for the Hokage tower. It took a few more seconds before the next person finally got out of the stupor and it took a full minute before everyone had finally woken up.

By that time, they had finally realized that they had been unable to exact their revenge on the two boys and some of them muttered curses at the two boy's luck as it seemed they were going to get away again.

It took them nearly ten minutes before they finally reached the Hokage tower, and they walked straight up the stairs before walking into the Hokage's antechamber where his secretary sat hard at work filing different papers for the Hokage to sign.

Looking up at the arrival of the two people whom were walking towards her desk, she looked up at the cat masked ANBU and then raised an eyebrow at Naruto. She couldn't believe it, but it seemed to her that the blond haired boy had finally been caught after his latest prank and the ANBU had decided to bring him in front of the Hokage.

As Hiruzen had already told her that if Naruto came in by himself or if he was escorted, that she was to lead him in immediately, she merely bowed to the ANBU and smiled at Naruto before walking towards the Hokage's office door and alerting him to their presence.

The two walked inside the office and Hiruzen smiled at them as his secretary closed his doors. He had been watching the blond on his crystal ball so he already knew of the recent occurrence, but he decided to allow the cat masked ANBU to report anyways.

"Ah Yamato, I see you caught our little blond menace." Hiruzen said with a small smile on his face.

"Actually Hokage, I was here to report something else. Young Namikaze here utilized wood style earlier when young Uchiha started to fall off of the monument." Yamato said in his expressionless voice, making sure that his voice showed no emotions, even though he was currently rumbling with different emotions.

"Is that so? Well, that is quite something, wouldn't you agree Yamato?" Hiruzen said as his mind turned once again to his wayward student.

He had already figured that it must have been Orochimaru whom had somehow given the boy the ability to use Mokuton. It wasn't impossible to do, as the proof was in front of his eyes in two instances. Naruto wasn't the only one whom Orochimaru had decided to experiment on.

Yamato had been an experiment of Orochimaru's before he had been forced to flee the village and he was able to use Mokuton as well. That is what brought him to his current thoughts. It was actually really convenient that Yamato could utilize Mokuton, because that would give Naruto a teacher.

"Naruto, would you please return to your estate for the time being. I will come over later and talk with you. Yamato, please stay. We have some things to discuss." Hiruzen said as his mind started to plan things for the immediate future. He decided that Naruto was going to be getting a full time sensei.


	3. Chapter 2

To Darkness Shadow:

First off, thanks for the review. The answer to your first question will be revealed in this chapter. The answer to your second question is that Sasuke will get it during his first C ranked mission, while Naruto will obtain his a short time after Sasuke does. I am not going to reveal exactly what makes it occur for the two of them, but I will say this. The Sharingan is normally activated either because the wielder has suffered some kind of extreme emotional damage, or they find themselves in the position of needing to protect someone dear to them and being unable to without their legendary doujutsu. At the risk of revealing too much information, I will tell you this as well. The rinnegan is normally activated by the wielder watching someone die right before their eyes and being unable to do anything about it. It usually manifests itself in a very powerful Shinra Tensei. Again thanks for reviewing and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask them in another review.

* * *

Chapter 2

Konohagakure – Namikaze Estate – Nearly a Year Later

"Mix your water chakra and your earth chakra in equal measures Naruto. You should channel your water chakra to your right hand and your earth chakra to your left hand. Now here are the hand seals for the jutsu." Yamato said to the blond boy whom was watching from his side as he channeled his two chakra natures and begun to flip through hand seals, slowly so that the boy could see them.

"Mokuton: Great Forest Technique." Yamato said as he thrust his left arm forwards and it transformed into a branch that forked into about twenty other branches.

"What you did a year ago was purely out of instinct and it was a lesser version of this particular jutsu." Yamato said as he allowed his arm to separate from the branches that had rushed forward nearly twenty feet.

Naruto spent about ten minutes slowly going through the hand seals and making certain that he had them committed to memory before he began to channel his earth and water chakra like he had been trained to do. After that incident nearly a year ago, Yamato had retired from the ANBU and had been assigned as a special sensei to train Naruto in his Mokuton.

Flipping through the hand seals as fast as he dared, Naruto channeled all of the earth and water chakra that he had gathered in his left and right hand to his left once he had finished the last hand seal. Then he thrust his left arm forward.

"Mokuton: Great Forest Technique." Naruto shouted the name of his jutsu as his arm turned into a thick branch that forked into three other branches.

After detaching his arm from the branches, he couldn't help but compare his measly four branches to that of his sensei's twenty some branches. Yamato noticed his student's face start to fall in something akin to sadness, and easily knew what it was about. He didn't waste time and quickly told Naruto about how it had taken him around five years' worth of training to get to the point that he was at. Naruto brightened up at hearing that.

"Okay, I think this is enough for today." Yamato said before leaving in a vortex of leaves via shunshin.

However, he knew that Naruto wasn't anywhere near calling it a day and so it came as only a slight surprise to him when he showed up the next morning to see a tuft of blond hair poking above a clearing full of branches. He hadn't been able to increase the number of forking branches, but he showed that he had the determination to keep training until he dropped.

Walking over to the tuft of spiky blond hair that was poking up from within the branches, he found Naruto fast asleep with a smile on his face. Softly nudging the boy in the shoulder, he chuckled to himself as Naruto groaned and turned over instead of waking up. The boy liked his sleep when he had been training hard.

Yamato thought back on the last year while he picked the slightly snoring boy up and carried him away from the training ground towards his estate. There had been many a day that he had come back to find Naruto passed out from training all night long and he couldn't help but admire the boy's resilience and determination.

After walking for nearly thirty minutes, Yamato placed Naruto's hand upon the gate and it slowly began to glow with a light blue color. After a few seconds the gate opened up and he continued on towards the house that Naruto lived in. He entered the estate and walked up the staircase to the second floor where he entered one of the many guest rooms.

When Naruto had moved into the estate, he hadn't been old enough to truly care what room he used and had just chosen the first one that he came to. However, that isn't the reason that he didn't use the master bedroom at his current age.

Hiruzen had finally told the boy about his parents and their sacrifice when he had turned six. The first time he had walked inside the room after his conversation with Hiruzen, Naruto had broken down into tears and had cried himself to sleep on the floor.

Mikoto had found him like that the next morning, luckily the gate had been left open the other night, and she had held a sobbing Naruto to her chest nearly the entire morning. After that day, Naruto hadn't been able to make himself step a single foot inside that room and so he continued to use the guest room as his own.

Yamato laid the boy down on the bed and quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper and laid it down on his bedside table. He told the boy that he was cancelling training session today and that he should catch up on some rest. Yamato stood still and smiled fondly at the young boy for a while longer before making his exit.

Naruto didn't wake up for another two hours and when he did he blinked several times as he sat up confused as to how he had gotten back to his room. He could clearly remember falling into unconsciousness surrounded by the branches he had been creating.

Finally he noticed the piece of paper and quickly read the note that Yamato had left him. It was a good thing that he had mentioned for him to take it easy, because if he hadn't Naruto would more than likely have gone to train some more.

As it was, he decided to go and check up on his best friend. As he walked to the shower and set it to the hottest temperature it would go, he thought about how the previous year had gone. He had been so shocked when he found out about his ability to use the famed bloodline Mokuton.

The evening of his saving Sasuke, Hiruzen had come to his estate and explained to him what it was that he had done. He had already figured out what he had done, but for the life of him he couldn't understand how he had done it. The furthest he knew, his family had never consisted of Senju blood and Mokuton was a Senju bloodline.

That was when Hiruzen had been forced to tell Naruto about the events after the day he had been born. He had already explained to Naruto that he was the Kyubi's jinchuriki when he told him about his parent's sacrifice. So that left the kidnapping by his former student, Orochimaru.

He obviously left out a lot of the more inhumane details of Orochimaru's track record, but he talked with Naruto about his theory that Orochimaru had somehow spliced the Shodaime Hokage's DNA with his own. He had been supremely grateful when the boy didn't ask too many questions, questions that he didn't want to even think about, let alone answer to an eight year old boy.

As Naruto got dressed and quickly made his way out of his home and estate grounds, he thought back to what had happened not a month after his eighth birthday. It had been a dark and quiet night, as an oppressive weight settled over the entire village. Nobody knew what was going to happen, but they all knew that something bad was going to happen that night.

None of them would have been wrong either. That night, Sasuke's newly turned thirteen year old brother Itachi massacred almost his entire clan in less than two hours. The only two Uchiha that survived the massacre happened to be Sasuke, whom had been training with Naruto at the Namikaze estate and they had both lost consciousness from their exhaustion and an Uchiha girl that Naruto had never met whom had been in the hospital at the time of the massacre.

Their first hint that something wasn't right was the fact that there wasn't any breakfast set up in his kitchen the next morning when they walked into his house, supporting each other from their lack of energy. Mikoto had taken it upon herself to make sure that the blond boy had a healthy breakfast and dinner every day.

The two boys had set about quickly grabbing one of the cereal boxes and pouring a bowl of cereal each with a healthy splash of milk and a cup of orange juice. They had eaten quickly and when they had finished, Sasuke had chosen to go home and Naruto had gone upstairs and promptly fallen asleep. Sasuke had been all alone when he walked into his clan estate.

Ever since that day, Sasuke had never been the same and Naruto took it upon himself to try and bring some light to his best friend's otherwise completely dark life. He was moderately successful since Sasuke's mood always appeared to lighten when he came over, but he would quickly sink back into the depression after he left.

It took him nearly forty minutes for him to make the trip and find himself walking through the quiet and dead streets that made up the business district of the Uchiha Estate. Instead of going to the house that Sasuke and the other Uchiha girl lived in, he walked towards one of the many training grounds that made up nearly a fourth of the Uchiha Estate.

He knew the boy wouldn't be home and that he would be training instead so it came as no surprise that as he came closer to the clearing that marked this particular training ground he was able to hear the distinct thunk sound that was made by kunai and shuriken impaling wooden training dummies.

Knowing that this stunt could easily cause him to be on the receiving end of a bunch of shuriken and kunai and looking like the training dummies, Naruto began to stealthily creep up on the raven haired boy whom was so embroiled within his own emotions and training that he didn't hear the nearly silent footsteps that Naruto made.

Subsequently, Sasuke found himself upon the receiving end of a high pitched shriek at point blank range in relation to his right ear. Already on edge from the anger that he was almost always feeling these days, Sasuke quickly spun around while swing his kunai dangerously. Naruto quickly ducked his head as he had foreseen this attack.

Before Sasuke could react and swing with the kunai again, Naruto planted his right hand on the ground and using it and his other leg as support, delivered a sandal to the Uchiha's gut. During the two boy's spars, they never pulled punches, only kunai and so when his sandal connected, there was a great amount of strength behind it. So much strength that Sasuke was lifted into the air about a foot before he came crashing back down onto his butt.

Sasuke stood back up with a grimace and finally took a good look at the person whom he had attacked. He realized now that it was his best friend and the only ray of sunshine in his otherwise dark existence. Quickly setting himself into his clan's ready stance, Sasuke smirked at the blond boy.

"That was some kick there Naruto, let's see if you can do it again." Sasuke said with a cocky voice.

The two boys were in their second year at the academy and of everybody in their year, they were the top ranking students when it came to taijutsu, mainly because of their intense spars. The two of them were nearly dead even, and they continually spurred each other towards getting better in the hopes of beating the other.

Placing a cocky grin on his own face, Naruto launched himself at the raven haired Uchiha and started delivering a vicious barrage of punches and kicks. Sasuke was a little faster and agile than Naruto, but he knew from experience that the blond had him outmatched when it came to raw power.

Instead of blocking the many punches and kicks sent his way, he merely spun and twisted his body in an attempt to dodge the blond powerhouse's blows. The only thing was that he didn't completely outclass Naruto in speed, and as a result of that fact, he wasn't able to dodge every blow and had to block a few that would have left him gasping for air. Instead of gasping to suck in air, he just felt bruises from on the places where he had to block those blows.

Again though, the two of them were nearly dead even, so Sasuke didn't just lie there and take the punishment. For every blow that Naruto landed upon the raven haired Uchiha, he had to take nearly twice that number. The only thing was that Sasuke lacked his raw power and so he was able to take the blows and keep going.

The two of them continued on like this for nearly a full hour before they were picking themselves up off of the floor and each of them gasping for breath. Suddenly Naruto began to laugh hysterically at the state the two of them were in and as such things go it wasn't long before Sasuke fell to the infectious laughter and joined in, the two of them rolling on the ground and clutching their sides.

"What are you two laughing about?" Came the soft, yet vibrant voice of one Akane Uchiha.

Naruto and Sasuke both looked up at the girl whom stood at the edge of the clearing and was watching the two boys as if they had suddenly lost their minds. She had been watching the spar and like all of the ones previous, she honestly thought that the two boys were trying to kill each other with their fists and feet and yet for some reason were failing miserably.

The look on her face just made the two boys begin to laugh even harder, which made them clutch at their sides even harder as they began to feel complete and utter burning pain from the many punches and kicks they had each taken.

It took a few minutes, but the two boys were finally able to pull themselves together and stop laughing. That is until Akane made an under her breath mention about boys trying to kill each other. One look at each other was all it took as they began laughing harder than they had been previously. By the time they had recovered again, she had already left the clearing shaking her head and mumbling about crazy boys.

* * *

Okay, so here is chapter 2. Thanks to all of you who reviewed on the last chapter. Before anybody asks, no I am not going to have a team comprised solely of Sharingan users, no matter how bad ass said team would be. If any of you all read my AN at the top, you'll notice that Naruto and Sasuke won't activate their Sharingan before their first C ranked missions, and as such, Naruto isn't going to be placed on a team with Sasuke and Akane. I'll go ahead and tell you their separate jonin sensei. Sasuke and Akane will be taught by Kakashi of course, while Naruto is going to have Yamato as his. I am going off of the logic that since they know that Naruto can use Mokuton, they would have him paired with the one person whom can continue to train him in it to the greatest degree. I haven't completely decided upon whom the third person on team seven will be, nor have I decided whom the two other members of team Yamato will be, so suggestions are welcome. Now that that is taken care of, I bid you all a good night as I start playing Enter the Sandman for no other reason than to make myself chuckle at the irony. Till next time.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Konohagakure – Nara Clan Grounds – About a Year Later – Around Christmas

Akane Uchiha was slowly walking behind the two idiots that she called friends. One of them was a distant cousin, Sasuke. The other, was the sole heir to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans, Naruto. To be completely honest with herself, she only knew why she was friends with Sasuke. She didn't have the slightest clue why she was friends with the blond haired idiot.

It wasn't as if he was an idiot in the general sense of the word. He understood the things that were taught at the academy, even if he did find some of it too boring to commit to memory. No, it wasn't that he was dumb; it was that he did stupid things. Like now, he had talked Sasuke into helping with his latest prank.

They were gathering up all of the deer on the Nara clan grounds, and they were replacing all of the reindeer that people had placed outside their houses with them. Now normally, that would have merely consisted of taking away all of the reindeer because normal deer wouldn't stay in one play very long. However, Nara deer were different than other deer. They were just like their caretakers. Lazy.

So it came as no surprise when the deer would just sit there and allow Naruto and Sasuke to place red balls on their noses and to paint their antlers. If she actually looked at their eyes, it would even appear that they were watching the clouds without a care in the world. It was very funny and she had to admit that it brightened her day, if only a little bit. It took them about two hours to replace all of the reindeer.

In response, the Hokage asked the Nara clan to come and get the deer, but they were too lazy to do it themselves. As a result, the Hokage had to commit nearly all of his genin teams and a few chunin teams to gathering up all of the lazy deer and returning them to the Nara grounds.

It was so amusing to watch deer that had been so docile when Naruto and Sasuke had brought them into the village proper become obstinate creatures of pure strength that didn't want to budge from their positions. The little genin would try and tug and the deer would just stubbornly stick their heels into the ground and just wouldn't budge, their eyes seeming to be watching the clouds the entire time.

What happened afterwards was in Akane's humble opinion, one of the most hilarious things that had happened in the last two years. Since the Hokage had to call in several chunin squads because of the mere number of deer needing to be rounded up and transported, Hana Inuzuka was forced to do what she considered 'genin work'. Hana didn't appreciate that one bit.

So when the irate Inuzuka heir finally caught up with the culprit behind this latest prank she didn't even give him a chance to deny his involvement before she started giving it to him. Because let's face it, if a large prank goes off in Konoha, everyone knows who is responsible. Anko has been silent way to long for it to be her and so there is only one other peson that would have the balls to do something like this.

First it started as one of the loudest verbal lashings that anybody had ever heard, but it soon escalated to Hana chasing a hysterically laughing Naruto throughout the entire village. Akane had to give the boy one thing, he was fast on his feet. Hana was a chunin and in a rage and she was still unable to catch up to him long enough to start giving him the beating of a lifetime.

So she did the next best thing, she had her three ninken pounce at Naruto from different directions in a surprise ambush. Akane had to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes at what had followed. Naruto had somehow dodged two of the furballs, when the third bit him on the butt. Naruto was sent skyrocketing into the air screaming.

Konohagakure – Book Store

Several blocks down the road, there was a very nice book store that sold everything from jutsu scrolls to soft core porn. In fact, there was an entire shelf dedicated to the sale of the Icha Icha series. At this store, there was a white haired ninja that had a mask over his mouth and his forehead protector slanted over one of his eyes. The ninja was reading an orange book when he suddenly got a feeling that he had been beaten to the punch on something. He started crying humongous anime tears.

Konohagakure – Naruto

Hana had finally caught up with the blond haired idiot after her dog had bitten him in the butt and had ripped off a good portion of the boy's black pants, revealing white boxers with green toads on them. The mere sight not only gave Sasuke nightmares for years to come, but it gave Akane something to rub the boy's nose for the rest of their lives.

Once Hana had gotten to the boy, even in the state he was in with his pants, she couldn't stop herself. Ten minutes later, Hana had pounded the last bruise into the young blond's face. She turned around, intent on leaving the boy there, but she was a medic at heart and despite her every wish had turned back around and picked the boy up.

This entire time, Sasuke and Akane had just been following along and after they saw that she was picking him up and it appeared that she was no longer angry with the boy, they decided to go back to their own home. This left Naruto in the care of the crazed person whom had just beaten him into a black and blue pulp, and he didn't like this situation one bit.

That is why Naruto attempted a desperate escape that was only halfhearted since his body felt like it had been sent through a trash compactor several times. This attempt went nowhere since Hana had him firmly within her clutch.

"Oh calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you anymore." Hana said to the squirming boy in her arms.

"You know, after what you just did to me, you really inspire a lot on confidence." Naruto said under his breath and consequently received a sharp rap from her knuckles on his head for the statement.

"Quiet now, I'm taking you back to my clan compound to heal you. If you keep it up, I'll just beat you up again afterwards." Hana said with a wide smile on her face as she watched Naruto's face drain of blood as he thought of being continually healed only so that she could continue to use him as a punching bag.

As you can imagine, he was silent for the entire twenty minutes that it had taken them to reach the Inuzuka Compound. The silence was actually rather pleasant to her and she using the time to come up with an excuse as to why the blond was in the shape he was in if she ran into her mother at the compound. Clan heirs couldn't just go around beating up ten year old kids after all. However, the silence was destined to end at some time and it came in the form of another ten year old kid and his rather loud voice.

"Hey sis, who you beat up this time?" Came the innocent question from her snot nosed brother Kiba.

However, she knew that her brother's curiosity was anything but innocent. This was going to cost her, but she couldn't have this getting back to her mother. There was no way that Tsume wouldn't punish her for losing her temper like she had.

Even though the Inuzuka were by their very nature more rough around the edges than others, the main house and its heirs still had to maintain an image within the village and the image that this would bring wasn't what Tsume wanted.

"Yeah, who did you beat to within several seconds of their lives this time my young daughter?" Tsume said from behind her only daughter in a very flat and icy tone as she rounded the corner of one of the many kennels that populated the compound.

Hana slowly turned her head around to look at the very person whom she had wanted to avoid like the plague itself. The worst part was the fact that her brain had decided to take its leave of her body at that moment and she was left sputtering like an idiot. However, it looked like Naruto had an epiphany.

"She wasn't the one who beat me up. She just found me like this and she told me she was going to try and heal me." Naruto said in a tired voice, he was really tired and he just wanted to get healed and possibly make it to where the Inuzuka whom was holding him never did this again.

"Oh, really. Is that what happened Hana?" Tsume said in a slow and icy tone that said 'if you lie to me it is your death bed girl'.

"Yeah, I just found him like this outside of the Nara compound. I figured that instead of taking him to the hospital that I would just bring him back here and Kiba could keep him company while he rested." Hana said after her brain seemed to return to her and she realized that the little blond boy in her arms had just given her a way out of this crap hole that she found herself in.

Tsume just gave her a look of suspicion before looking back at the boy and her face was overridden with concern. She recognized who the boy was and she knew what his burden was. Worse than that, was the fact that he had no family. For an Inuzuka, whose pack mentality ran in almost everything they did, to not have a family was tantamount to the worst thing that could ever befall someone.

"Take him into the guest bedroom and heal him there. He can stay as long as he needs." Tsume said as she turned away to make sure her children didn't see the tears that were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

Konohagakure – Inuzuka Compound Guest Room – Three Hours Later

"So, what's your name blondie?" Came the brash voice of one Kiba Inuzuka.

"Naruto Namikaze." Came the short and stiff reply from the 'blondie'.

"Dude, Namikaze, like Minato Namikaze? Kiba said in an awed voice since it wasn't everyday he met the relative of one of the greatest Hokages.

"Yep, he would be my pops." Naruto said in the exact same tone that he had delivered his name in, he was just too damned hurt to talk in his normal joyous tone.

"Hey, meet Akamaru. He's my ninken, I just got him the other day." Kiba said as he picked a white puppy up off of his head and held him out so that the dog could sniff Naruto's face.

Naruto just groaned in discomfort. He wanted to jump up and away from the dog, since the last time he had been this close to a ninken he'd had his butt nearly chomped off. However, Inuzuka Medical Jutsu were developed to be used on animals and as a result weren't too effective on humans. That of course meant that he was as sore as ever.

"So, I heard some rumors, and I want to confirm them. Was it you who replaced the reindeer with the Nara deer?" Kiba asked in his innocent toned voice.

"I ain't admitting crap, but I ain't denying it either." Naruto said the phrase that he had memorized and had recited to every single person whom had ever caught him doing something or had asked him if it was him who had done it.

Kiba just fell to the floor and started rolling as he laughed his head of hysterically. Even Akamaru seemed to be laughing, although Naruto didn't have much to go on for experience with dogs laughing to compare with, so he couldn't be too sure on that one.

"Dude, that was good." Kiba said as he sat up on the floor and wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.

Naruto just grinned at him and his dog despite the pain he was in. He was starting to think that something good just might come out of him getting the crap beaten out of him by that Hana Inuzuka. He might just get another good friend.

Konohagakure – Academy – Nearly a Year Later

Deflect a right hook to the left with the left end of the quarterstaff before countering with the right side of the quarterstaff in the form of a quick jab towards the left shoulder and following up with a hard strike from the left end of the quarterstaff towards the kidney. Over the last year Naruto had been practicing with the quarterstaff and it was showing.

He had been squared off against a portly boy named Choji and even though the boy had a lot of power behind his strikes, he was slower than snot. That meant that he was just no match for Naruto when it came to taijutsu, with or without the quarterstaff. All he had to do was deflect the blows that the boy would send his way and quickly retaliate with a few of his own.

However, no matter the boy's speed and his inability to hit Naruto, he had to be given respect. He could take a hit. They had been at this for nearly five minutes now and he didn't even seem fazed by the blows that he took to the shoulders, shins, arms, and kidneys; even a smack to the face didn't make him blink. Shinobi from the Akimichi clan were a bitch to take down and Naruto was learning that today.

"Do you even feel anything that I have hit you with?" Naruto asked in an awed voice because of the amazement he was feeling at this eleven year old boy's resilience.

"Oh I feel it, but believe me when I say this; you ain't got anything on my dad." Choji said in explanation of his ability to take the myriad blows that had been sent his way.

"Okay, that's enough for today everyone. Let's head inside the classroom so that we can continue with yesterday's discussion before we break for lunch." Came the voice of the chunin academy instructor Iruka.

However, Naruto had other plans and he quickly placed his quarterstaff on his back and ran over towards Kiba and Sasuke. The three boys had been planning a prank of epic proportions and it was almost time for everything to start. The preparations had already been made and things were sure to start blowing up soon, literally. That was the reason they were heading towards the Hokage Tower. For protection.

It had taken them nearly a full month to gather the needed supplies, but they had managed. The needed supplies were five hundred sealing tags and five hundred pounds of cow dung. They had spent their evenings for a full month smelling like shit, literally. However, after today, they were positive that it was going to have been so worth it.

They had sealed about a pound of cow dung in each of the sealing tags and had placed the tags on every single table that they could get their hands on, minus a few. They had completely left the Uchiha compound, the Namikaze compound, the Hokage Tower, and Ichiraku Ramen clear of the battle zone. Any other clan compound, regular house, or restaurant was not spared that luxury.

It was not uncommon for the three of them to come to the Hokage tower before one of their larger pranks went off, so when the three of them appeared during school time, the secretary had a very bad feeling. Escorting them into the Hokage's office, so that the poor old man could have a distraction, she settled herself back and waited for the eventual tide of angry ninja.

She didn't have to wait long. At exactly twelve o'clock, all of their tags unsealed their contents and a large pile of cow dung appeared within the midst of steaming food that was set out for the noon meal.  
Five minutes later saw the appearance of the first person seeking vengeance. It didn't stop there as a few minutes later Hiashi Hyuga appeared demanding to see the Hokage.

Within moments of each other, a few other clan leaders started to appear and among them were Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Shibi Aburame. Dispersed within their number were several regular villagers and many non-clan ninja. Hiruzen's secretary was by this time really curious as to what those three had done this time to earn such a mob.

The last person to appear was the angriest and it was a good thing that the secretary didn't try to stand in the way of her and her daughter. Tsume was so angry that she performed a fang over fang on the Hokage's door and came through it snarling at the three children whom had all three leapt into the air at the sudden appearance of each of their worst nightmares.

"Hana, get your brother." Tsume said to her slightly less angry daughter as she marched towards Naruto and Sasuke whom began backing up until the bumped into Hiruzen's desk.

"Come here you brats!" Tsume shouted as she lunged at the two boys who quickly jumped to the side and allowed her to fly into a smiling Hiruzen.

It took Tsume a moment to untangle herself from Hiruzen, but when she had finally stood up she noticed that not only was Naruto and Sasuke gone, but Hana was staring at the door and Kiba was nowhere to be seen. The three boys were jumping from rooftop to rooftop when they heard Tsume let loose a bloodcurdling scream of anger and frustration. Needless to say, they all three shivered at the exact time.

* * *

Thanks to all of you who have favorited and followed my story. Also, thanks to all of you who have left reviews. I appreciate them so much. I hope you all liked this chapter. Tell me what you all think in a review. Also, next chapter will be much like this one where I introduce more of the characters and start fitting them into each other's lives. Thanks again. Till next time.


	5. Chapter 4

Okay, so here is the patiently awaited fourth chapter in the story of our favorite blond haired jinchuriki. I apologize for the amount of time that it has taken to get this out to you all and I thank all of you who have stuck with me and waited for its release. Before I forget, to Bunnyguest, no the village doesn't know of Naruto's heritage other than those who might have known of the fourth's and Kushina's relationship. Until Hiruzen believes that Naruto is strong enough, he would keep it an s rank secret to protect the boy from those who would harm him. On the part of the villagers giving him respect, not so much. They don't mob him or hurt him solely because he actually has a home and has people whom treat him well and so he doesn't go out of his way to get their attention. The same goes with Iwa, for the moment. Also, for Danzo, you'll just have to wait and see. Now, without a further ado, I present to you chapter 4.

* * *

Chapter 4

**Konohagakure –Nearly One Year Later**

Now, after the sealed poop prank, the three boys had led the elites of the village on the longest chase in the history of Konohagakure. They had been able to avoid detection and capture for nearly four hours before everything started to fall apart and all hell broke loose. Because of a long list of mistakes they had finally been tracked down by the Inuzuka Clan Matriarch Tsume Inuzuka.

Now, the Inuzuka clan is infamous for its anger issues and its members' animalistic tendencies and habits. So when Tsume finally caught up with the three culprits and managed to apprehend them it would come as no surprise that she took the responsibility of punishing the academy students herself. She took that responsibility with relish and their punishment was brutal. They had to clean out the Inuzuka Compound kennels for a full year.

Now having to clean out normal kennels wouldn't have normally been that bad, but you have to take into account that these kennels housed Inuzuka ninken. To say that the three boys ended their days sweaty and stinky would have been an understatement considering the amount of poop those ninken were able to generate in one day.

However, no matter how inhumane or disgusting a punishment this was, Tsume was able to accomplish her main goal through it. She had not only taught Kiba who wore the pants in the family, but she had put the fear of kami inside Naruto and Sasuke. She had officially ended Naruto's and Sasuke's pranking days.

However, that by no means stopped them from all hanging out and making even more friends. After they had brought Kiba into the fold of their friendship they had subsequently brought Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Naru into the fold as well. That is why the five of them could be found right now sitting together in the back two rows of their classroom waiting for their turn to take the graduation examination.

It was nearly noon and Choji Akimichi was plowing through his ninth bag of chips already. Choji was a really strong kid, but he was also very soft. Whenever he was nervous he would increase the velocity at which he consumed his various flavored potato chips. That was why everyone who knew him well enough could see that he was very nervous about the exams.

Sasuke was sitting hunched over the desk with his head resting upon his hands that were formed as if he were praying. However, Naruto knew for a fact that the Uchiha wasn't praying, or if he was it had nothing to do with the exams. It wasn't as if he were nervous about his chances to graduate. No, it was because the only thing the raven haired boy ever prayed for was a day without those useless fan girls putting him through hell. In fact, the only two girls in their class that weren't fan girls were Hinata Hyuga and Sasuke's cousin Akane.

Naruto and Shikamaru were both sitting with their heads lying on their folded arms catching a little more sleep. Shikamaru had always been like this and, to the many different teachers' chagrin and some teachers' relief, his laziness had rubbed off on Naruto. Naruto had originally been more like Kiba, as in he was very loudmouthed. They had no clue just how much Tsume Inuzuka was actually responsible for his change.

Kiba was the peculiar one of the five today. He wasn't acting like his normally high spirited and rambunctious self. In fact, the Inuzuka boy was silent and the other four boys couldn't even remember a single day that they had been blessed with complete silence from him. They chalked it up to him being nervous and dealing with his nervousness in his own way.

However, if they had been able to trace where his eyes were staring they might have been able to figure out the true reason for his silence. The rowdy brown haired boy with triangular tattoos on his cheeks was staring at the blue haired Hyuga heiress.

He'd had a crush on Hinata since the beginning of the academy and, although he didn't know it, Hinata had been experiencing similar feelings for him for about the same amount of time. Unfortunately, for the both of them, they were both socially awkward. This social awkwardness led to neither of them being able to find the nerve to admit their feelings for the other.

Hinata had just recently reemerged from the testing room proudly wearing her hitae-ate on her neck like a necklace. Nobody had really doubted that he Hyuga heiress would pass the exam and so nobody was surprised when she walked back in the room. That didn't stop some of them from being proud of her, namely Kiba.

"Kiba, they said it is your turn." Hinata said in her soft and quiet tone.

"Thanks Hinata." Kiba said in an equally quiet voice.

Again, all of his friends just chocked his weird behavior up to nerves. They had no clue that the reason he was being the way he was today was that today could very well mark the last day he could spend with Hinata. The thought alone made him feel a deep ache in his chest for reasons he couldn't identify nor understand.

As Kiba left to take his exam, Naruto lifted his head an inch off of his arms and glanced around the room. Only three of them still had to take their exams after Kiba. He noticed that Ino Yamanaka was sitting next to her pink haired best friend/rival with her hitai-ate wrapped around her waist like a belt. He also noticed that Sakura had hitai-ate in her hair replacing the ribbon she had in it earlier.

On another aisle from the girls sat one Shino Aburame. Naruto didn't really know much about the boy other than the fact that he hailed from the Aburame clan and that they had some kind of contract with bugs or something like that. Shino was wearing his hitai-ate on his forehead and he was calmly sitting at his seat waiting for the exams to end.

Naruto then glanced to the farthest desk in the classroom and his heart started thumping a little faster than before. Sitting there all alone was the other survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre. Akane Uchiha, Sasuke's cousin, who was in his opinion the cutest girl he had ever laid his eyes upon.

Akane had pure black hair that reached just past her shoulders and she had two bangs that fell down and framed her face on each side. She had obsidian black eyes that spoke of the sadness that she felt on a daily basis and those eyes made his heart ache whenever he saw them.

She stood at a height of five foot and one inch and since she trained almost religiously she had a lean body that was streamlined like that of a runner's body. She wore a dark green short sleeved blouse with black arm warmers that reached from just above her elbows down to her wrists. She also wore black leggings with a dark green short skirt over them. Her hitai-ate was proudly displayed upon her forehead.

Although he found her to be the cutest girl he had ever laid his eyes upon, he had only started thinking of her like that in the last year and he had so far been unable to find the strength needed to do anything about his feelings for the girl. Naruto let out a sigh as he thought about trying to bring up the nerve to ask the girl out.

"Maybe after the exams." Naruto whispered softly to himself.

"You say something." Came the sleepy voice of one Shikamaru Nara who didn't even lift his head off of his arms to look at Naruto.

"Nope." Naruto said before continuing to glance around the room.

Shikamaru, with his head down on his arms, was sitting to Naruto's right. The lazy boy proudly proclaimed that he would do nothing but lie on his back and watch clouds all day if he could. While Naruto had calmed down and had developed a lazy attitude like Shikamaru he still couldn't find it within himself to lie around all day and do nothing whatsoever. It was too boring for him to be able to do that. Shikamaru had his hitai-ate wrapped around his bicep.

Kiba returned from his exam after nearly ten minutes and he was proudly sporting his hitai-ate on his forehead and he had a smug smirk on his face. The reasons for the smug smirk was while he might have been the dead last of the class he truly believed himself to be great and saw no world where he could possibly fail the academy graduation exam.

"Well, well, well, I guess you were able to graduate after all. I guess Tsume's incentive helped to give you the drive not to fail." Naruto said while he smirked at one of his best friends.

"Oh please, ye of little faith, do you honestly think that I could have failed that exam? You know, I don't want you two to answer that question for I know what your answer would be. However, I'll admit that the incentive made me work a little harder. I mean, who in their right minds would want to shovel dog shit for the rest of their lives." Kiba said as he finally reverted back to his customary boisterous and loudmouthed attitude.

"Well, I guess you have proved that you are in your right mind. I doubted it myself for a while there." Sasuke said as he too smirked at one of his best friends.

"Oh yeah, well you can just go and eat some dog shit." Kiba said as he failed to come up with anything witty to reply with and he couldn't allow himself to not have the last word.

Nearly the entire class broke into laughter at the Inuzuka boy's expense and they were rewarded with Kiba letting a slight growl escape his throat. However, Sasuke couldn't stay and laugh at his friend's expense for too long because Kiba told him that he was next up. Nearly ten minutes passed before Sasuke appeared again with his own hitai-ate on his forehead.

Naruto and Kiba were about to congratulate and try to embarrass the Uchiha heir, but Sasuke had barely been able to alert Choji of it being his turn before he found himself the target of his two greatest fan girls. Naruto and Kiba couldn't stop themselves from rolling on the floor in laughter as the two girls literally threw themselves at him in their joy that he had passed. Their laughter only increased when Sakura and Ino started bickering with each other while still piled on top of Sasuke.

Naruto and Kiba had just been able to get their laughing under control when Choji showed back up with his own hitai-ate on his forehead and munching on his potato chips again, but at a more sedate pace. Everyone offered up their congratulations before wishing Naruto luck on his own exam. They all knew that he would pass because they had just taken the exam and they knew his skills, but they couldn't tell him what the exam was made up of and so he had to go in just as nervous as everyone else.

Naruto couldn't explain for the life of him why his hand wouldn't stop shaking. He knew that he was nervous, but he didn't have the slightest clue as to why. He was fairly confident in his abilities and his chances to pass the exam, but it would appear that fairly confident just wasn't enough to assuage his feelings.

After what had felt like nearly hours, but had in truth been merely seconds, Naruto found himself in the examination room and he stood before two of the most important people in his life. The first person he noticed was his academy sensei, Iruka Umino. While the kindly chunin didn't really teach him much he had been a never ending support line for Naruto to draw upon when he felt lonely or sad.

The second man he noticed was in fact the most important person to him in his entire life. Standing and smiling at the blond boy in front of him, the kindly old hokage was dressed in his silky white robes with his white hat resting on his head. While he had a lot of things that he was required to do Hiruzen Sarutobi always made sure that he was at the academy graduation exams.

The reason that he took the time to go and participate in these examinations once a year was in fact very simple. These young children were about to become ninja and he knew the things that they would have to face out in the ninja world. He knew the hardships and the pains all too well, for he had experienced them himself. Over the years he had been forced to leave his sensei to his death and he had watched as several close friends and colleagues gave their lives for the mission they were on.

Although he had the utmost faith in the teachers that he hired for the academy he still felt the need to make sure that none of these children were sent out into the ninja world before they were absolutely ready. As a result, every student that took the exam were judged by their academy sensei, but if Hiruzen felt that they weren't ready he would sit them down and explain to them exactly why he was holding them back.

"Jiji, what are you doing here?" Naruto said in his tone and attitude that he reserved for the man who stood in front of him.

"Oh, I just came to see you perform. I trust you are ready." Hiruzen said in his own voice that he reserved for his family and Naruto.

"Of course I'm ready. I'm going to make you both proud and then I am going to take that hat from you Jiji." Naruto said as he smiled cheekily to the two men in front of him whom chuckled at his exuberance before sparing him a warm smile.

The first part of the exam was a marksmanship test. There were three targets set up and Naruto was given eight shuriken. Holding four shuriken in between his knuckles on each hand, Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest in an x shape before thrusting them forward and releasing the shuriken. While none of the shuriken missed a target, only three of them were in the bull's-eye.

Iruka looked at the targets and smiled to himself at Naruto's results. While it obviously wasn't the results of an elite marksman, it was better than average and obviously enough to pass the first part of the exam. The second part of the exam was on taijutsu.

Now, Naruto knew himself that he wasn't anywhere near the level of a taijutsu expert, but he was proud of his skill nonetheless. After all, he was the only user of the once famed maelstrom taijutsu style that had been utilized by the legendary Uzumaki from Uzushiogakure. What made this style once so famed was its speed and unpredictability. The maelstrom style relied upon fast kicks and jabs to the soft areas of the body while utilizing acrobatic maneuvers to dodge counterstrikes. The style gets its name from the speed and unpredictability of its attacks and dodges.

The style's creator had been aboard a ship that was trapped within a whirlpool's grasp and he had noticed the speed and unpredictability that the whirlpool dragged the ship around with. He had finally managed to gain control of his ship somehow and had escaped the whirlpool and had gone on to name his own taijutsu style after it.

So when Iruka rushed Naruto to begin the taijutsu spar the blond haired boy stood tall and held his arms loose at his sides while he bent his knees just a tad little bit. Deciding that all he needed to do was dodge and not attack, Naruto prepared to do just that.

The moment that Iruka got into striking distance, Naruto bent his knees a little more and jumped in the air when Iruka swung at him. Naruto twisted in midair until his body was parallel with the ground and then laid his hand upon Iruka's shoulder. Pushing off with his hand on Iruka's shoulder, Naruto flipped himself over Iruka and twisted around to land on his feet in his ready position.

Iruka could have called the match when Naruto had evaded his punch like he had, but he was curious to see what else the boy had and went back in with a roundhouse kick. Naruto showed the flexibility and balance that his style awarded him by how he dodged this kick. He watched as Iruka twisted around and he saw his foot come whistling in to hit his side, but he bent back at his waist at an almost ninety degree angle to allow the foot to pass by him with the barest amount of room. He stayed like that for a full two seconds before standing straight again and looking at a slightly shocked Iruka.

"I think that's enough for the taijutsu." Iruka said with slight awe in his voice.

While Naruto might not be a taijutsu master by any means, and he knew that if he actually tried and gave it his all, he would be able to beat any of the graduating students hands down, he was still surprised at the level of flexibility and balance Naruto was able to show him. He was pretty sure that if he were to try the same dodge that he would fall flat on his ass.

Finally the final part of the graduation exam had come up. Iruka explained that he was required to perform a henge, a substitution, and a clone jutsu. He saw Naruto look over at the hokage and a silent question was answered with a nod from the kindly old man. Curious as to what the silent question was, Iruka watched as Naruto first henged into a perfect copy of the First Hokage.

Nodding his head and writing down a result, Iruka watched as Naruto then substituted himself with a chair in the back of the room. Again he smiled as he wrote down a result and waited for Naruto to create a clone. Boy was he surprised when Naruto started flipped his hands through the tiger, dog, and snake hand seals.

"Mokuton: Wood Clone Technique!" Naruto shouted once his hands finished in the snake hand seal and wood started sprouting from his right shoulder before coalescing into a solid copy of him.

While he had heard the rumors that Naruto had utilized the famed wood style to save Sasuke from falling down the Hokage Monument when the two boys had been younger, he had never seen any hint of the kekkai genkai from the boy and so he had put it down to fanciful talking. He had never in his entire life thought that he would see someone utilize the same kekkai genkai that had formed the forest in which they called their home.

"Amazing." Iruka softly whispered before snapping out of a daze like trance and smiling warmly at the boy.

"So, did I pass?" Naruto asked in a slightly hesitant tone as he awaited the verdict of his sensei.

"Was there ever any doubt Naruto." Iruka said in his warm brotherly tone that he always reserved for the boy standing in front of him.

"Did you hear that Jiji. I'm finally a ninja. I'm going to have that hat before long, just you wait." Naruto said as he jumped into the air before accepting his hitai-ate with sparkling eyes.

"You still have a long way to go before you take my hat, but I believe that one day you will." Hiruzen said as a tear leaked past his eye when he saw a brief image of several people standing behind the boy.

The boy reminded him so much of Minato and Kushina, but he also reminded him of his first sensei, the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. It wasn't just the boy's ability to use the mokuton kekkai genkai either. He saw the same fiery determination within the boy's eyes that had burned so brightly within his late sensei's eyes.

"He truly has your will of fire sensei." Hiruzen whispered while he watched Naruto tie the hitai-ate around his forehead before rushing out the door to show his friends.

"He also has both of yours as well, Minato and Kushina." Hiruzen thought to himself as an afterthought before he stood up and vanished in a swirl of leaves via a shunshin.

* * *

Thank you to all of you who have favorited and followed this story. I also want to thank all of you who have reviewed for this story. I truly appreciate those reviews just like all of the other aspiring writers that spend their free time pouring our heart and souls into these stories. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you review to either give me a large ego boost or some ever appreciated advice. Next chapter will have the team placements and the first c ranked mission. Till next time.


	6. Notice

Notice

I am sorry to do this to you, all of my faithful readers whom have enjoyed my stories so much. Wow, that sounded as if I was beginning an 'I Quit' notice, didn't it. No, that isn't what this is for. Due to some recent revelations, I have gone through all of my stories and reread them. All of them have certain areas where I feel that they need work and improvement. Maybe this is just the author in me, or maybe I am actually right, who knows. All I know is that I am going to delete all of the chapters posted so far and start rewriting them. I will rewrite my stories one chapter at a time, and will switch between each of my stories once I get a chapter done, so that I can give each and every one of my faithful readers a chance to read something and not neglect certain stories. Most of the content and storyline will remain the same; however, I will be expanding upon certain characters that I realize now I neglected. Certain events that I merely mentioned will now be written about as they happen instead of mere back thought by the characters. So, if you're wondering whether it will be worth going back to reread the chapters that you've already read, your answer is yes. I hope that I don't lose any of you, but if you do decide to drop my story, I'll understand. Also, as a reminder, if you are reading one of my stories, I have several others going on that you might enjoy so go and check them out. I also have a beta for at least one of my stories, and I'll see if they wouldn't mind being the beta for the rest. If they won't the other stories will have to take a slight back burner until I can get the beta for them. Again, I express my desire for you to remain patient and to continue to read my stories. Thanks, as always, for without readers and fans, a writer is a nobody.

Ps. I'll keep this notice up for about a month so that hopefully all of you whom have followed my stories get a chance to see it and aren't confused when you suddenly notice that all of the chapters you had once read are now gone.


End file.
